Sleepy Hollow: Fear Itself
by Reaper81609
Summary: Elizabeth is visiting the small town of Sleepy Hollow. She has to deal with school, boys, jerks, her boyfriend, oh and the Headless Horseman, staying in a house right next to the woods maybe wasn't such a good idea after all. M for language and content.
1. Chapter 1

Fear Itself ch. 1

Elizabeth Anderson sat in the back seat of her family's small station wagon, listened to her mp3 with her head leaned against the window as her friends talked and her mother and father sat quietly in the front seat. She was 18 and had deep blue eyes and dark black hair that was fairly long as it went passed her shoulders to her upper back, she smiled when the boys at her school called her cute and pretty, but never thought much of it. She was on a trip to a place called Sleepy Hollow, famous for its legend of the Headless Horseman, but she never believed it or found it too interesting.

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and turned to see her boyfriend Will Harkin smiling at her, he had shaggy brown hair that was a little grown out, she smiled back and looked out the window at the multiple colored trees, still visible in the dark of night. It was around that time in early October when the leaves started to change, right now they were on a small road that went right through the forest to the small sleepy town of Sleepy Hollow.

She had two other friends with her besides her boyfriend, another boy by the name of Alex T. with shoulder length blonde hair who was laughing with Natalie H. Eli looked in back at the far seat as the two laughed over some lame joke that Alex had told, Will rolled his eyes and looked forward and Eli sighed and looked out the window.

She caught a glimpse of something in the woods, it was fast and black and she only had a moment before she lost it. She sat up a little and looked out the window and turned to get a better angle t behind them, nothing, "Did you see that?" she asked pointing out the window and pulling out a headphone.

Will leaned passed her and looked out the window, he leaned back, "I don't see anything," he said raising an eyebrow, Natalie and Alex stopping and looking out the back window and shrugging.

She frowned and leaned forward grabbing the back of the driver seat, "Are there any bears around here?" she asked her parents looking between them.

Her mother who sat in the passenger seat shrugged, "I don't think so but we are in some heavily wooded area so I don't see why not," she said brushing a strand of black hair out of her eye, her father shrugged.

She frowned and leaned back in the seat looking out the window to see that they were coming close to the small town. Well at least we're almost there, she told herself and looked into the woods again to see nothing, she closed her eyes and drifted into a like sleep as they got closer to the town.

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><p>She felt her arm shaking, "Hey Eli wake up we're here," she sat up and opened her eyes hearing Will's voice as she looked at him and he smiled.<p>

She looked out the window to see that they were approaching a small two story cottage as they pulled up in the driveway, "Where exactly is here?" she asked as the car stopped. She opened the door and climbed out looking around to see that they were close to the village but they were really close to the woods.

Her father climber out and rested his arm on the door, "The place we'll be staying for the next month or so," he said and waved them over to the trunk of the car and popped it open. Everyone else found their way to the back of the car as they spent the next couple minutes emptying the car and bringing stuff inside, not many words shared besides grunts and groans as they lugged the luggage inside.

Eli set down her large blue suitcase and swiped a smudge of dirt off her green long sleeve as she bumped into the wall a little. "This place is filthy," her mother expressed as she looked around the large hallway and flicked a switch and the lights in the hallway turned on.

"As long as there aren't any bed bugs I'll be fine," Alex muttered carrying his large green case upstairs and the rest of the teens followed. They split rooms for couples, her and Will getting one room, her parents getting another, and Alex and Natalie getting the last room. Eli opened the door and stepped into the large room, and looked around, well it was kept at least somewhat tidy, there wasn't as much dust or anything in this room at least. She set her bag next to the bed and examined the dresser that had a large dirty mirror on it and wiped away some of the grime with her sleeve as Will came in and set his stuff down next to the bed and slapped the sheets, a large cloud of dust erupted where he hit it.

"Oh wow," he said coughing and waving his hand to clear the dust, "how long has it been since someone's been here?" he said and walked over to her rubbing his eyes.

She was looking at herself in the mirror, "I don't know but knowing my mom she'll probably have us clean this house till it's spotless for the next week," she said rolling her eyes and turning around to him as he kissed her.

He pulled away, "Hah for once I think I'll be up to it," he said and walked to the wardrobe across the room and pulled his bag over, opening both and putting some of his things in it. She shrugged and grabbed her suitcase and started putting things away, after several minutes they were done and went downstairs for dinner.

As they stepped into the kitchen they saw Alex and Natalie walk in after them, "So what's on the menu?" Alex asked and Eli's mom looked up from the open fridge.

"Right now it's whatever you packed before we left," she said gesturing to the red soft-cooler on the counter and they all groaned as the four of them rummaged through the bag. After a few minutes they had taken out the last of the food and set it out, it was all mostly sandwiches, but food was food. They sat in silence as they ate for the next couple minutes.

Eli finished first and threw the small plastic wrapper in the garbage and stood, "I'm going out for a walk," she said and the rest of them nodded and continued to eat. She walked to the door and grabbed her black sweater she had hung on the hat rack a couple minutes before going upstairs, she opened the door and walked out into the cold night.

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><p>After about half an hour of walking down the trail in the woods she decided to turn around, she turned and saw a shape dart into the brush next to the trail. She looked at it and cautiously approached the spot where the figure had jumped into the bush, then again now that she thought about it, it was more like figures.<p>

As she approached three people jumped out of the brush and shouted, "BOO!" they all yelled in unison and she just sat there looking at the three boys with a look of confusion and idiocy on her face. They all had big grins on their faces and had their arms risen above their heads, their grins slowly faded as they stared at her reaction. She raised an eyebrow and used the hand that was originally held up in caution to push her way through them, people had tried to scare her many times, but she just wasn't really affected by it, she didn't know why, she just didn't get scared easily.

They looked at her in confusion as she passed, "What not even a sign of acknowledgment?" the taller one asked and she turned around with her arms crossed.

"No offense," she said, "but one; if you're trying to scare me you're doing a crappy job, and two; we're in the middle of the woods and three dudes I don't even know just followed me, why would I acknowledge you?" she asked plainly.

"That's cold," one said quietly and a little mockingly.

The big one kind of looked at her oddly, his face reddening a little, "Well we came to introduce ourselves to the new peeps when we saw you come out of the house and go into the woods," he said. "We didn't know if you knew or not but this is Sleepy Hollow, as in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow Sleepy Hollow," he said and she just raised her eyebrow. "You know Headless Horseman and all that," he said and she chuckled a bit and shook her head.

"Yeah sorry but I don't believe in that mumbo jumbo," she said turning around and raising a hand in dismissal.

"It's not mumbo jumbo," one of the others muttered quietly and looked down.

"Good luck with your scare tactics," she said as she walked off back to the house. Headless Horseman, she thought, give me a break, she rolled her eyes and continued down the road.

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><p>The three boys looked at the girl as she walked off, "Well she's still hot," one of them said plainly looking at her butt as she walked off. The bigger of the three, Joe, looked at him with a frown, "what?" Joe rolled his eyes and set off back down the road to town. Well she'll be attending the same high school as he was so he'd probably see her, wasn't a very big school anyways, and he had to admit she was pretty hot. He smirked to himself and they continued to follow her till they reached the break in the woods and walked towards the car they had came there in, yeah he'd ask her tomorrow, he thought , he couldn't wait.<p>

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><p>The Hessian sat on his black steed and looked down on the large house from a hill in the woods as the four children walked out of them. He sat a moment longer before snapping the reins and turning his horse, his black cape fluttering as his horse neighed and reared back, turning and heading down the hill away from the house.<p>

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><p>Eli heard something that sounded like a horse and turned to look into the woods, the moon lighting up some parts of it, she looked around but didn't see anything. She shivered and put her hands in her sweater pocket as she walked up the steps to the house, three random guys try to scare her in the woods and then she heard what sounded like a horse neighing, she must be getting paranoid or something. Well at least she had school to look forward to, she thought sarcastically, joy.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Fear Itself ch. 2

Eli looked up at the large school with her bag over one shoulder, it was pretty small but also seemed so big at the same time. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Will smiling at her as Alex and Natalie walked up the stone steps with the rest of the students walking into the school, she smiled back and they proceeded up the steps as well. They stepped into the large main hallway and walked down until they reached their class, their grade was so small that most of the seniors shared the same classes throughout the day.

She sat down in an open seat with a sigh as she dropped her bag to the ground and rested her chin in her hand as Will sat next to her and everyone else began to enter the class. Their English teacher was pretty handsome actually, he had light brown hair and a gorgeous face, he also had glasses, but that only made him look even better in her opinion and she just stared at him until he looked up from whatever he was doing.

He stood and closed the book he was reading and wrote his name on the board, he turned, "My name is Mr. Bell," he said and looked over the students who remained quiet, someone popped a gum bubble.

He raised an eyebrow and someone raised their hand, he gestured them to speak, "Where is Mr. Yohan?" he asked a little confused.

"Mr. Yohan has recently gone missing and I'm here to take his place until he shows up," he said walking over to his desk and checking a list, "And I see I'm not the only new one here," he said looking at Eli and Will. "Well I'll just take attendance and then we can begin on a maybe all too familiar topic," he said and started to call out names. When he was done he set his clipboard on the desk and clapped his hands together and looked at them, "I know we are all familiar with the Myth of this town," he said and several sighs, rolling eyes, and groans were heard.

A boy raised his hand, "It's not a myth," he said and people looked at him and he reddened and looked at the ground.

Mr. Bell raised an eyebrow, "Mind clarifying," he said and the kid looked visibly nervous.

"When I was eight my family and I went out into the woods when we first came here," he said and licked his lips shifted uneasily, "We camped out in the woods that night and in the middle of the night there was this sound, like the sound a horse makes. Well my dad told my mother and I to watch my younger sister while he went to check it out, he grabbed a flashlight and walked outside, there was a fast and loud trotting sound and the sound of a sword being pulled." The boy's eyes had small tears forming in them and he continued, "We waited for a while until there was a huffing sound and the sound of something dropping down from something, the side of the tent was cut open and my mother told me to grab my sister and run and I did to the nearest church.

"When we left the tent I turned and saw a huge black horse and something enter the tent and my mother screamed, after a couple minutes I heard a horse and the trotting sound followed us all the way to the edge of the woods. Even after we left the woods it followed us until we reached the edge of the church and I fell just in time for a swishing sound to go right over my head and giant legs running past me," everyone stared at the boy as tears slowly streamed down his face. "I got my sister off the ground and we ran straight into the church and looked out the window to see the horseman right outside the gate looking at us, and… and my mother and father's heads in his hand," he said choking it out. "Excuse me," he said and got up and left the classroom with his head down and everyone watched him as he left.

Mr. Bell held the door open for him, "Take as long as you need," he said and when the boy walked out the door he closed it. "Alright, well now that that is done for the moment," he said. "Why don't we get started with the assignment, I want everyone to read the book and write an at least 5 page report on your opinion of the book and a short story of your own around the 'Legend'," he said and started to pass out books.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went without incident and they finally walked out the double doors at the front of the school, she yawned and looked out at the kids heading to their cars while the others waited for the buses. She looked at Will as they walked down the steps, Alex and Natalie joining them, "Do you think that boy was telling the truth?" she asked and he shrugged.<p>

"The way he acted I would say yes, but the story itself I don't think so," he said and she told them she had forgot her book in the classroom and ran back to grab it.

She walked into her last period class that wasn't too far from the door and grabbed her book, turning and running almost head first into the guy that had tried to scare her last night, the tall one. "Hi," he said seeming to try his best at a seductive smile.

"Oh," she said disdainfully, "You again," she went to step past him but he blocked her way, "Mind moving?" she demanded more than asked.

"Feisty," he said, "My names Joe I just wanted to introduce myself," he said and she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "Just wanted to apologize for last night," he said. After a minute of her just glaring at him he stepped aside, "Alrighty then, nice meeting you, glad we could have this talk.

She stepped past him, "Likewise," she said sarcastically and walked out and down the steps, what a creep. Joe watched her as she walked out, damn she was feisty but fine, well at least she didn't hate him otherwise she probably either wouldn't even have spoken to him or hit him. Well she'd warm up to him eventually he thought as he watched her climb into a small station wagon and closed the door, yeah shouldn't be too long, he thought and walked over to his ride to go home.

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><p>Samantha Mercer was a little new to the town, having only moved there a month before, but she still found the town peaceful and quite beautiful if she thought about it.<br>She jogged down the trail as the sun had sunk below the horizon about ten minutes ago and she jogged back down the trail, she brushed a strand of blond hair out of her face and stopped and leaned an arm against a tree. She breathed heavily as her blue jogging outfit had sweat stains and she unscrewed the lid from her water bottle and took a big swig, when she looked back down, she saw a large figure on a horse turned to the side but it was facing her, with no head. She stared in horror, frozen with fright as she looked at the sword in the figures hand that pointed to the ground, the black figure greatly contrasted with the light from the moon in the lit path.

It raised the sword slowly till it was pointed at her, she stiffened, the figure tugged on the reins quickly and the large black horse reared back and turned heading toward her. She snapped out of her trance and turned, running at full speed for her life, she looked over her shoulder and saw the figure move the horse to the side and spin the sword as it held it out and drew it back. She dove into the underbrush just in time to dodge the fiery blade as it swung where her neck was just a moment before, she rolled and ran through the woods, the horse rearing back and turning as the headless rider pulled on the reins. She heard the metal of the spurs on the riders boots make tapping sounds and the sheath of the deadly sharp blade rattled against the rider's leg, audible even over the fast heavy trotting of the horse.

She knew she was done for as she slowly slowed down, her adrenaline failing her from the constant running beforehand. She dropped to her knees and covered her head as the blade swung over her head and there was a strange growl of frustration coming from the rider. She remained down waiting for the final blow but realized he had missed, she looked up ready to run, but she saw that the horse was already turning to face her, but it didn't charge her, instead it and its rider looked at her. She continued to stare as the horse huffed and the rider swung off the large horse, his cape fluttering after him, the tattered ends dragging about an inch behind him on the ground as he walked toward her.

He grabbed something from his waist but she had already sprung up and was in a run, suddenly she felt a deep sharp pain in her side and she cried out and fell grabbing the wound to see a small dagger. She pulled it out and threw it to the ground, getting up and limping as fast as she could as the rider walked toward her menacingly, she swung around a tree just in time to hear a whooshing sound and a thunk on the tree in front of her, a small axe buried in it. She looked around the tree and her eyes widened in horror as the rider was right there, the hell fire hot blade drawn back in his had ready for a quick swing.

* * *

><p>The sword stuck into the tree with the force of the impact, red blood staining its already dark bark, the body dropped and the head rolled to his feet. He lifted his right foot and placed it on the tree, pushing off as he pulled the blade back and out of the tree, it slid out and he quickly put his foot down as momentum drew him back. He spun the large blade and sheathed it in one swift movement, then reached down and grabbed the head by the ponytail of the deceased girl, lifting it off the ground and putting it in his black silk bag as he left the body. He grabbed the axe from the tree and picked up the bloody dagger, wiping it on his armored sleeve as he walked toward his horse.<p>

The Horseman attached the bag to his horse's saddle and put his foot in the stirrup, flexing his leg and pushing off the ground and throwing his leg over the horse, planting his other foot in the other stirrup. He grabbed the reins and quickly looked behind him sensing something, nothing was there however, just the dark of the woods. The Horseman looked back for a moment longer before turning to return to his resting place when he heard the quietest of sighs and spun around and flicked the reins, Daredevil rearing back and turning.

He drew his sword and spun it and it made a nice sound as it made the metal on leather sound of a sword being drawn and rounded the large tree where the sigh came from and swung down as he rounded the tree. He hacked at a bush, a large portion of it being chopped off, but no living being, he looked at the spot a moment longer before dismissing himself and going to his resting place, he would have to hunt the creature later. The sun was coming up soon and he needed to return before the sun had risen, he rode off into the night leaving no trace of his existence other than the body and footprints that no one will ever see because of the leaves, silent as the ghost he was.

* * *

><p>Johnny peeked out from the bush next to the one the rider had cut down and looked around, he had sighed in relief when the rider had turned and that almost brought its fury down on him, he didn't make that mistake when he turned again and rode off. He crept out of the bush making sure the Horseman was far enough away and walked over to where it had come from, Johnny had only witnessed him when he was collecting the axe and had immediately ran to the bush. He rounded the tree and gasped, a young looking girl lay there without a head, he looked around one more time to make sure the killer wouldn't just pop out and kill him. When the coast was clear the eleven year old ran for his life to the nearest house he could think of, he needed to tell someone and make sure the killer didn't catch him.<p>

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><p><strong>AN: Hello everyone. I just wanted you all to know that the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorite stories and I would never do anything to try and soil it. also the Horseman is one of my favorite fictional characters and you can expect him to be mentioned quite a lot, anyway just wanted to tell all to leave a review and tell me what you think so far, it would be greatly appreciated and expect the new one to be up soon, toodles.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Fear Itself ch. 3

The Horseman spun and growled quietly in anger as he sensed a small child running away from where he had killed the girl, he could catch the child and return before sun-up but it had to go without incident. He turned Daredevil and galloped at full speed, he drew his sword again and held it high for a quick downward stroke, but he was still a while away and he didn't know if the child knew these woods as well as he. If he did he may not catch him before he reached the large house he saw the night before.

* * *

><p>Eli sat at the table laughing with everyone else as they recounted older times, she plopped a grape in her mouth and chewed it, they had already ate dinner a while ago and they couldn't get too much sleep in the house so they just talked. There was a loud banging at the door and a little kid shouted for help frantically, everyone stopped and looked in the direction of the door. Eli got up and walked to the door put on her sweater as she approached it, it was cold around here especially at night.<p>

She opened the door and the kid burst in nearly tackling her, grabbing her bare legs tightly as he muttered nonsense frantically and crazily. She pulled the kid off and crouched down and grabbed his shoulders and he continued to shift uneasily, looking at her friends as they peeked around the corner. "Kid calm down, what's wrong?" she asked but he just muttered nonsense and looked out the open door as a cold hard wind blasted through it and almost moaning. "Calm down kid, just tell me what's wrong, what happened?" she asked snapping her fingers in front of his face and he looked at her.

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear as she turned her head a bit, "He's coming," he said and she looked at him confused and there was the sound of a horse somewhere. She looked out the door and then back at the kid, standing and walking to it, "No don't go there, he's waiting," the boy said frantically and grabbed her sweater and tried to pull her back.

"Calm down kid I'm just checking outside and then I'll close the door," she said and looked out the door to see nothing but the woods and the parked station wagon, "See there's nothing there," she said and turned and began to close the door. Before she could shut it there was a loud thump on the door and it felt like something had hit it hard, she looked confused and looked back at the kid who had his fingers by his mouth and she slowly opened the door.

She gasped as there was a small axe in the door and she looked back out to see something coming out of the woods, her eyes widened and she slammed the door shut, locking all three locks. "I _told_ you!" the boy said and stomped his foot a little in irrtation.

"Not the time kid," she said and backed away from the door, pushing the kid along and she turned when there was a loud thunk on the door again, then a hard pound.

She jumped at the pound, it sounded like someone was trying to kick the door in, her dad came to the top of the stairs with a shogun in hand and a blue robe on, "What's going on?" he asked and the there was another pound on the door and one of the locks broke off, he cocked the shotgun.

There was a long pause as her dad took one step down at a time, there was another pound and the rest of the locks gave way to the powerful kick, the door slamming in to reveal a large black leather boot with spurs at the heel. The foot came down and the figure who it belonged to threw his arm down and the axe came flying out of his hand, Eli squeaked and ducked, the axe just flying over her head and imbedding itself in the wall.

She stood slowly and looked at the figure in the doorway as it stepped through and she stared, it had no head, and a large deadly blade in his other hand, a black cape dragging in after him. Her dad shook his head and fired the shotgun, the figure went flying out of the doorway and its arms were spread as it landed on its back, they cautiously stepped forward when it suddenly sat up and began to stand. Her dad looked shocked and fired again, the figures hip jumping back, but he continued forward, her dad looked horrified now as he loaded another two shells into the gun and fired.

The figure spun right with the force of the impact against his shoulder, but came back up and then stopped and glanced behind it, the horse was rearing and neighing, it turned back to them and then turned around, its cape fluttering as it did so. Will came up behind her suddenly and threw the axe with all his strength at the black being, the axe flying fast and imbedding itself in its back. It stumbled a bit as the axe had hit its backbone directly and kneeled down a little trying to turn and pull out the blade, managing to do so, it stood and glanced back at them before swinging onto his horse and galloping off, the sky starting to change colors as the sun began to rise.

When Eli looked back to the woods the figure was already gone, "What was that?" she asked aloud and felt her sweater get a tug and looked down.

"That was the guy who killed the girl in the woods we need to get the police," the little boy said and her mom came flying to the top of the stairs.

"I called the cops, is everything alright down here?" she asked looking quite tense.

Her father looked out the door and there was a distant wail of sirens, "Yeah whoever it was is gone now. Come on lets wait for them to get here, they're bound to ask us a ton of questions," he said a bit disdainfully, he never really liked cops for one reason or another.

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><p>After about five minutes the cops had showed up and questioned them for about a half hour, looking at them like they were crazy when they told them what happened. They had taken the boy with them after they had questioned him and said their goodbyes, the kid looked pretty tired.<p>

Eli went upstairs to try to get some sleep before school tomorrow, it was already quarter after three and she had only gotten about an hour of sleep if that. She took off her sweater as she entered the room and threw it on one of the chairs, showing her short pink pajama shorts and red tank-top. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over her shoulders as Will climbed in wearing boxers, he sighed.

"Well that was definitely interesting," he said and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "But I sincerely hope that never happens again," he said glancing over her smirking, "Night babe," he said and kissed her and turned over.

"Night," she said and rolled over too and closing her eyes and almost immediately falling asleep to plunge right into a nightmare.

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><p><em>She sat up and looked around her, red and orange leaves sticking to her hair and back. She was in the woods in the middle of the night, still wearing her tank-top and shorts, but how did she get there? She looked back in front of her and there was a pitch black stallion with a rider of the same color, a large sword hanging in his hand. She stood up cautiously and slowly began to back up as the headless rider watched her, as she took another step, a twig snapped. Her heart raced and she looked down at her bare foot and then back at the horse and rider, but neither moved, still as a statue.<em>

_ She continued to back up until she bumped into a tree, she was slowly putting distance between herself and the figure. She quickly rounded the tree and ran with all the speed her legs could carry her, looking over her shoulder to see the horse and rider continue to be still. She sighed through her heavy breathing and looked forward again, to see the figures right in front of her._

_ She skidded to a halt and ran to her left, the rider finally pulled back on the reins and raised his sword high above his head, the horse rearing back and whining, stomping to the earth and charging at her. She continued to run as the rider closed in on her, she ducked around a tree and there was a loud thunk as the sword hit the tree she hid behind and was chopped off right where her head was a moment before she ducked, it fell with a loud crash._

_ She stood up and looked through the branched of the tree, not seeing the other side. Suddenly the horse burst through it, its rider had his sword raised and was bringing it down, she dove to the side and felt the blade bite into her arm, she hissed in pain. She grabbed her arm and ran, looking at it to see a cut that was blistering around where the blade had cut her, blood running down her arm freely. She looked behind her to see that the horse had reared back and the rider reached behind him and pulled out a flaming pumpkin, the horse turning and charging her as the rider brought his arm back._

_ She turned and ran, looking behind her to see the rider throw the pumpkin with inhuman strength as it soared right at her. She looked ahead of her and almost ran headfirst into a tree, ducking around it and looking back to see the flying pumpkin had rounded it also, following her as it quickly closed the distance. She felt an explosion against her back and was sent flying to the ground, she tried to get up but her strength failed her, she dropped back to the ground, her ears ringing and her vision blurred._

_ The horse's legs stopped in front of her and two booted, spur-heeled, feet dropped down and walked over to her, the spurs clicking with each step. The boots stopped right in front of her and the figure couched down arms resting on his knees, a gloved hand grabbing her black hair and pulling her head back. She was forced to look up into the empty spot where the riders head should have been, she looked down a little to see his other hand held his large sword._

_ An ungodly laughing came from the hole and the figure stood up with Eli's hair still in his hand, she reached up and grabbed her head as she was lifted up with him. He slammed her against a tree and continued to laugh as he let go of her hair but continued to keep her against the tree, the same arm bending and pushing against her throat. She grabbed the arm and tried to pull it off as she felt the air slowly begin to close off. Suddenly he slammed her head against the tree with his arm and backed off, she slid down the tree a bit and looked up, her vision blurred again as the rider put the blade gently against her throat and brought his arm back. He laughed again and brought the sword down._

* * *

><p>"AAH!" Eli yelled, shooting up screaming, sweat drenched her tank-top and caused her hair to stick to her head. She breathed heavily and grabbed her chest, her heart beating wildly as Will stirred and looked at her.<p>

"You alright?" he asked her with a look of concern.

She continued her heavy breathing but sighed and said, "Yeah, just a nightmare," he smiled and reached up and kissed her.

He put his arm around her and gently set her head back against the pillow, "Well I'm here for you, don't worry," he said and she smiled back, she closed her eyes again and couldn't fall back to sleep, trying hard to make sure she didn't.


	4. Chapter 4

Fear Itself ch. 4

It had been a week since the incident at the house, the door fixed and the memory being just that. They had found a body in the woods where the boy had told them and yet to determine who it was because her head had been chopped off. Eli sat at the kitchen table thinking about the whole thing over in her head again, she wasn't even sure if had happened, it seemed too ungodly to be true, something you'd read about in a book.

She sighed, speaking of books, she reached down into her bag and grabbed her book and opened to the last couple pages, and she had yet to finish the part where Ichabob was chased. She read through it and thought at the same time, she wondered if the story was true, she had read that it was on her laptop, one Ichabob Crane being buried in New York. She finished the book and stretched, looking at the stove to see that it was only 8:30.

She got up and went upstairs, still thinking. There hadn't been any other disappearances, no more incidents, maybe it was just a dream or something, and everyone else had basically forsaken it from their minds. She opened the door to their room and walked over to her desk and sat down, opening her laptop. She opened word and began to type her report/story.

When she had reached the end of the report and was at the beginning of the story part, she stopped, lost. She sat there looking at the screen blankly for a couple minutes not knowing what to type or how to type it the best. She yawned and looked at her phone, it was 9:42, she put her phone away and saved the document, the assignment wasn't due till the end of the week so she had time. She closed the laptop and walked over to the window and looked out of it at the woods, it was pretty with all the colors and all, but so creepy with the rays from the moon and everything.

People at school were talking about all the Halloween events and what they were gonna wear constantly. She was gonna go as a female Freddy Krueger, her dad had the hat and she had the shirt and jean shorts she was gonna use, and she had bought the claws at the Halloween store two days ago. Alex was going as, what else, the Headless Horseman, he had a real cheesy costume planned out from the start, like he literally had the brought the costume with them when they left. Will was going as Ghostface from Scream and Natalie was going as a dark fairy of sorts, that or some sort of she-devil.

That creep Joe had also been bugging her a lot and was always hitting on her and attempting to seduce her, he even went far enough to leave her a flower, to which she burned. She remembered almost slapping him when he pinched her butt when she was getting things out of her locker, he was given detention for harassment, but that apparently still wasn't enough. She rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket as her phone buzzed, she flipped it open and saw that she had a text message.

It was from Joe, how in the seven layers of Hell did he know her number, she frowned, now she was getting a little worried. She read it to see what it said, "Your friend Natalie and I were talking and she gave me your number. You free tonight we're all going out?" She stared at the phone in shock. He was really asking her out despite her constantly rejecting him, where was Will when she needed him?

She felt her face heat up a bit in frustration and replied, "Actually I have plans. Don't respond," she typed in and sent the text, flipping it closed. She got up and true to her words had made plans that night and went downstairs and grabbed her sweater before walking out and heading for town. After a couple minutes of walking she reached town and headed for the club she was working for, despite how young she was they had accepted her, besides she could make a mean brew when she was in the right mood.

She walked in and took off her sweater, walking behind the counter and into the back room, setting it on one of the coat hooks and went to the counter, pinning in her tag as she went. She set her arm against the counter and popped a stick of gum in her mouth, she preferred a minty mouth over any other, people began to enter, Joe and some of his friends being some of them. She frowned and went into the back and told one of the other workers to cover for her while she took care of something.

She stepped outside into the cold dark night and sat under one of the lights for a couple minutes, sometimes the cold air was real good against her skin. After about five minutes she stepped inside and told the guy covering her that she was back and took up her spot on the counter again. A guy that looked in his mid twenties came up and ordered a beer, she reached down and grabbed one, popping the top and sliding it across the counter, he caught it and paid, walking off to a table. She served six other people before one of Joe's friends tipped him off that she was at the counter and he looked at her, now was one of those times she wished they would have given her longer shorts.

She sighed, I guess it was inevitable, she thought and rolled her eyes as he attempted to fix his hair and somewhat stumbled up to the counter. "I thought you had plans?" he asked, his voice trailing off and she snapped her fingers as he started to look down.

"Up here," she said and he snapped back, she rolled her eyes again, "You're looking at it," she said and continued to chew the gum.

"Well you got any plans after this?" he asked and she narrowed her eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she said disdainfully and a smug smiled formed on his face.

"Kinda," he said and covered a hiccup.

She stared at him, "You're drunk," she said plainly and raised an eyebrow as he shifted a little at the comment. "You're not even old enough," she said.

He pointed over his shoulder at his friends at the table who were laughing as they watched him, "My friend Tommy is, he got them for us." She left her eyebrow raised as she glared at him, "So you don't have plans?" he asked and she scoffed.

"You don't give up do you?" she asked chuckling at his stupidity and when he continued to smile and not say anything her grin dropped. "Tell you what," she said and he leaned closer, "You leave now I don't have to have Henry over there throw you out," she said gesturing to the large bodyguard who began to walk over.

"Is there a problem over here?" he asked in a rough voice, crossing his arms as he looked at Joe and then Eli.

She looked at the buff man, "I don't know," she said and looked back at Joe, "Is there?" she asked and he looked at her and then the large man glaring at him.

"No," he said, "We were just leaving," he said and waved his friends over and they looked somewhat put down that they were getting kicked out.

They left talking quietly and Eli watched them walk out, "Thanks Henry," she said and he nodded.

"Anytime Eli," he said in his rough voice and walked back to his spot. She had only worked there a night or two but she had talked to him in her free time every now and then, he was a good guy despite his figure. She sighed and served her next customer as he walked up, she still had another hour or so before she got off so maybe she would talk to him again. Who knew, maybe he would give her a ride home.

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><p>An hour later she walked out of the club and turned in the direction of the cottage, shivering as the night had gotten colder and quieter. As she walked she heard something behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see two figures following her on foot, the lighting masking their faces. Remaining inconspicuous, she only slightly increased her pace and glanced again to see they had sped up a little more, she matched their speed to see them speed up again. Then as they were getting closer, she broke out in a full sprint down the road, she heard the two behind her begin to run also.<p>

She heard a car and looked over her shoulder and waved it down, but instead it cut off her path and two more figures climbed out of the car, without any other choice, she ran into the woods. She ran for another minute before she started to get tired, she hid behind a tree and tried to control her breathing as she heard her pursuers still on her. She glanced around the tree and saw them looking for her, one of them looked in her direction and she shot back, the hard bark pressing into her skin through the sweater. She closed her eyes and made a silent prayer, she waited for them to pass the tree a bit, and then sprinted for the road, leaves crunching beneath her feet, she heard them shout out as they spotted her.

She was running up the slope when she felt a hand grab her ankle, her other leg shot out and made contact with something. The pursuer cried out she felt the hand loosen and she yanked her foot out of his grasp. But as she climbed, she felt more hands grab her and drag her down, she threw her arms about and kicked her feet, screaming for help as they pulled her back down and laid her on the ground.

She lashed out with a foot and kicked one of them in the face, "Ah, fucking bitch!" he yelled and lifted his fist up.

Another figure grabbed his shoulder and she recognized the voice, "Let's not ruin that pretty face of hers," Joe said smiling as the moon came out of the clouds and revealed his face.

"Asshole what are you doing?" she yelled at him and thrashed about again as they lifted her up onto her knees, still holding her down.

"Ah-ah-ah," he said waving a finger and touching her nose, her head shot back with a sneer. "Why don't you put that mouth to good use?" he said and started to undo his jeans and she realized in horror that they were trying to rape her!

She tried to lash out with her fist, but the figures holding her arms, though busy with their own jeans, still had a good hold on her. In the struggle, no one noticed the small layers of fog building up around them, and Eli heard what was about to happen before she saw it.

The sound of heavy galloping has barely audible, but the sound of a sword being pulled was what got her attention as she looked in the direction of the sound. The Horseman came out of the wall of fog, his arm high up with his sword in hand. As he passed he swung his arm down and the man holding her left arm collapsed, his head rolling in front of her knees. She looked behind her with everyone else as the Horseman pulled back on the reins and reared his horse, his deadly sword dripping red blood.

Eli snapped out of her daze as the Horseman slammed his horse back down and began to charge them. She used her free hand and punched the man holding her right arm in the spot he was fumbling with earlier and rolled to the side as the Horseman swept him off his feet with his sword as he passed. She ran up the slope as she saw Joe already a little ahead of her, hearing the Horseman finish off the other man and heard the large horse bounding up the slope with ease.

She reached the top and rolled over the curb, right under the metal guard when the horse came up and the rider swung and missed, his sword clanging a little as it scratched off the guard. She ran as she saw Joe get into his car and drive off, she ran for the club, she wasn't too far off and it was most likely still open. She heard a loud sound and turned to see the horse had jumped over the road guard and began to chase her down, its hoofs clacking on the sidewalk.

She turned into an alleyway as the horse passed, what was she doing, she couldn't lead him back to the club, he would just kill everyone, what was she going to, she couldn't dodge him all night. She thought of anything that could help her and remembered what the kid had said in class, the Horseman had stopped outside the church, maybe, just maybe.

She looked out the alley and saw the church, as well as the Horseman waiting for her, ducking and rolling as he swung his sword at her head. She finished the roll and made a bee-line for the church, looking over her shoulder and dropping to dodge an axe as it came flying from the riders arm, he slowly began to follow her. After a moment she rounded the corner and saw the church ahead, she made a sprint right for it and turned to see him round the corner on his horse again, her eyes widened and she moved faster.

She ran through the open gate and barreled through the doors, scaring the people who were in session. She quickly stood and slammed the doors shut, the other people helping her as they saw the devilish Horseman riding at them. They closed it and she looked out the window to see the Horseman circling the church just in front of the fence, his horse uneasy as he slowly circled it. She turned and saw Joe was there, she thought she had saw his car, but was a tad bit too busy running for her life.

She walked up to him, grabbed his shoulders and turned him, her knee shooting up and crushing his groin, he fell over with a groan.

"You fucking asshole, I should throw you out that fucking door right now!" she yelled and pointed at the big wooden doors as the few other people in the church looked at them. He stood and backed up from her as she slowly walked forward, "And there isn't an excuse in the entire FUCKING world that'll excuse that!" she yelled again.

"Yes well I really didn't think that the Headless Horseman would be chasing us," he said and walked up onto the large platform that had a large stained glass window behind it.

She was infuriated, she lashed out with a fist, which he jumped back to avoid. "That's your excuse, you didn't think he'd show up, well what would have happened if he didn't!" she threw another punch and he jumped to avoid it again. But this time a hooked blade attached to a rope came flying through the window and impaled the boy, wrapping around his side and yanking him out into the cemetery.

She stood in shock, shaking as his red blood covered her. She saw the Horseman drag him to the fence, then pull him over it and grab him by the neck from atop his black steed. He inspected his head for a moment, turning it from side to side as he held him high above the ground with one hand. He used his other hand to work the blade out of the boy and threw him over the side of the horse, riding off into the woods, howling wind and kicked up leaves the only thing he left behind other than the hooked blade and a blood trail.


	5. Chapter 5

Fear Itself ch. 5

Eli sat at the kitchen table with a blue blanket and a cup of green tea as she listened to her parents whisper to each other in the hallway. She took a sip of the steaming mug and cradled it in her hands, taking in its warmth as she sat alone next to the window. She looked out the window and expected to see the Horseman at any minute, but there was nothing, just trees, leaves and moonlight.

She sighed in almost relief, as of that night she had come to terms with herself that _he_ was still out there. She had dismissed him from her mind beforehand and now look where that got her. Her parents had called Will, Natalie, and Alex, all were with each other and having been aware that she had gotten a new job, had gone out somewhere without telling her.

Her parents walked back into the room and her mom sat across from her while her father remained standing. Her mom reached across the table and grabbed her hand gently, "We know you've been through a lot tonight honey, do you want to go to school tomorrow?" she asked quietly and caringly. Truthfully she didn't, but she wasn't going to miss tomorrow, she had several tests and Ms. Jones was usually especially hard on homework, if she missed a day she probably would have three hours of work to make up.

"No, I want to go tomorrow," she said setting down the mug and looked up at her father as he cleared his throat.

"Do you want to talk about tonight?" he asked her and she shook her head, all they had known was that she had witnessed a murder and was covered in blood. They didn't know about Joe and his friends, nor did they know about the Horseman. She didn't want them to panic, if they would even believe her, hell, not even the people in the church believed what they had saw.

"Are you sure?" her mother asked and Eli nodded.

"I'm sure, now can I please get some sleep?" she asked and her parents nodded and she stood up, it was already 11:30 and she had to get up at 6:00am tomorrow for school. She climbed the stairs and went to her room, opening the door and searching for the light, finding it she flipped it and almost expected something to be there. But there was nothing, the darkness being banished to the corners as the room was flooded with light.  
>She yawned and walked over to the bed, dropping the blanket and slowly climbing under the warm covers, she sighed in relief as she sank into the bed, her closed eyes heavy. She fell asleep quickly, not noticing the open window or the moaning wind that brought with it the quiet screams of the damned.<p>

* * *

><p>Eli woke to her alarm beeping, she squeezed her eyes in irritation before groggily opening them and looking at her clock, slapping the snooze button and trying her best to force her body out of bed. She stretched and stood up from her sitting position on the bed, walking over to her dresser and inspecting her face in the mirror. She shrugged and took off her top, reaching down and opening the drawer, pulling out a bra and strapping it on before grabbing the green long-sleeve she wore the first day they had arrived.<p>

She looked at the bed, just noticing that Will wasn't there, he usually didn't stay the night, so undressing in the morning came naturally, and often without thought, she thought. She put on a new set of jeans and grabbed her bag before walking downstairs, tossing it by the door and walking down the hall. She noticed that no one was in the kitchen either, she knew her dad had gotten a new job, but had he really already left? She looked around, still why wasn't anyone else around? She shrugged and grabbed a pop tart out of the pantry and put it in the toaster, grabbing a glass of milk after she did so.

The toaster popped and she grabbed the warm pastries and put them on a plate and set them down on the table next to the glass of milk and sat down. After she had finished she put her glass and plate in the sink and walked out into the hall to see that everyone's shoes were already gone besides hers.

"But why did everyone already leave?" she asked quietly aloud and looked around, then checked the time to realize it was 6:15. She sighed and then the thought came to her, if they ever even came back. She realized with horror that something may have happened and ran over to the television and turned on the news. She sat there for several minutes and nothing came up, so why was no one home, she asked herself irritably.

She remembered she had her phone and checked to see if there were any messages, and there were, only one though. Hastily she opened it and read it, it was from her father, "Hey hon, your mother and I had to leave early for work but we packed you a lunch, it's on the second shelf in the fridge." She walked over to the fridge and opened it and surely enough there was, she continued to read the message. "Will and your friends haven't come back yet but they should be home soon. See you later baby 3." She rolled her eyes in slight embarrassment, but she finally came to the conclusion to go to school to see if they were there.

But as she thought this, the news person announced that on account of the terrible murders of four of its students, there wouldn't be any school for the rest of the week, well doesn't that just figure. She frowned and walked upstairs, going to the left this time down to the bathroom after grabbing a towel from the closet, stepping into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

She stripped down and started the water, after it was nice and hot she stepped in and felt relieved, almost as if all her problems were being washed away. She began to wash her hair and suddenly the water felt different than it had, and it smelled like copper, she opened her eyes and realized the water had turned into blood. She screamed and jumped out, slipping and almost hitting her head on the sink.

She stood and grabbed her towel to wipe off the blood to realize that there wasn't any on her, nor was there any in the shower or coming out of the shower head. She was shaking and after a second she decided to turn the water off and dry off, walking down the hall with a towel around her and stepping into her room. She closed the door and turned, and cried out in horror as she saw a figure covered in shadows standing in the middle of the room where none had been a moment before, the window open and curtains fluttering. She snapped on the lights and light filled the room, the figure was not there.

She cursed to herself and calmed herself down, her heart was racing and she was shaking even harder. She let the towel drop to the ground and opened one of the drawers, then she felt an ice cold hand grab her shoulder and she looked into the mirror to see a caped headless figure grabbing her with a cold, dead, glove-covered hand.

She yelled out and swung around with a pair of scissors that were on the dresser in hand, and hit nothing but air. She stood gasping for air for a moment before she realized she was still naked. She quickly reached into the open drawer and began to get her clothes on, looking over her shoulder every other second, shit she was being paranoid, but shit did she have her reasons. When she was done, she ran down the stairs and grabbed her purse and ran out the door, not caring for anything at the moment.

The sun was barely in the sky, but it lit the road enough for her to walk to town and sit in the open park, a few people already out and about. She sighed in relief and sat down on a bench, reaching into her purse and swearing as she realized she didn't have her phone with her.

"You okay lady" a voice came from behind her, she turned to see a little boy standing there in a green jacket.

"Yes I'm alright," Eli said it more to herself than she did the kid.

"Okay," he said and then was about to turn when he seemed to have remembered something, but when he looked at her, he didn't seem to have the life he did seconds before. "He does not give in so easily, he will follow you to the bowels of Hell and back until he gets what he wants," a dark demon=like voice said through the boys lips. His face had grown pale and gaunt, his lips turning purple, his eyes sinking into their sockets as he seemed to age in front of her though his skin remained smooth.

"Then what the Hell does he wanted!" she screamed, her fury and fear speaking for her.

The boys face stopped aging, and then he started to laugh, the dark face looking even scarier now that it was smiling and laughing fool-hardily. "Your head," it said in a voice far deeper and darker than it had been. Then a hand came up and made a slicing motion on the small neck of his and the head fell off the body as it continued to stand there, the head rolling on the ground and laughing.

"No!" Eli screamed and closed her eyes and covered her eyes, shaking her head, but the laughter was even louder. When the laughter died down she opened her eyes and saw the body growing taller and taller, till a pitch black cloak covered its shoulders and large leather boots with spurs covered its feet. It walked forward and picked up the head, then began walking toward her, she ran screaming.

She fell on the ground and curled up in a ball, "No! No, no, no!" Eli yelled as she covered her head and screwed her eyes shut. She felt hands on her and a voice trying to calm her, several figures around her, she couldn't make out what they were saying. Then she saw a dark figure that stood between them, looking over their shoulders at her, "No," she said one more time before fading into unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

Fear Itself ch. 6

**AN: Hello all, I do sincerely apologize for such a long delay for this but I've been juggling several other stories to my dismay and stupidity. But I am here now sitting here at night with a rootbeer on a coaster, a fire going, having just got done playing a round of Dead Space and am in the mood to write this horror story. So without further ado, finally the sixth chapter of Fear Itself. **

***ahem* (in old spice guys voice) And yes, ThatChick1-7-2, Joe's death was planned to be quite similar to that of Lord Van Tassel's death *ahem*.**

**Beware the dark, there be monsters about.**

* * *

><p>Eli heard a beeping sound and quiet whispering as she slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a white room, a white curtain drawn around her. She blinked her eyes and looked around the little viewing space she had, a tube was up her nose and there was a monitor of sorts beside her.<p>

She tried to focus on the whispering, "She's suffering trauma from whatever she saw two nights ago. It's best you keep her on the medication and try to keep her out of whatever environment is causing her to have these hallucinations." Great, she was going crazy. She sighed and she heard approaching footsteps, the curtain pulled back to reveal Will and her parents and a doctor in a white lab coat.

Will smiled and sat next to her, "Finally awake huh?" he asked.

She felt like punching him in the face, but her sadness overwhelmed her anger and she felt herself nearly crying. "Where were you?" she asked sadly as she hugged him and sobbed into his shoulder.

"I was being stupid, I never came back even though I heard what happened, I'm sorry," he said quietly rocking her slightly as he tried to sooth her.

The doctor looked at them, "Like I said, keep her on the medication and she should hopefully get better," he said and nodded before walking out.

Her parents conversed a little before walking over to her, "You alright hon?" her mom asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

Eli let go of Will and looked at her, "Mom, I'm in a hospital because I'm having hallucinations from a murder I witnessed two days ago," she pointed out.

Her mom frowned a little and stood, "Eli that really wasn't necessary," her dad said.

Eli sighed, "Sorry, but as I have just said, I am in a hospital because I'm having hallucinations of the headless horseman," she said. "Things could be better could they not?"

"Well they're letting you out today, but you need to take your medication, it'll help make the visions go away," he said.

She nodded, "Alright, let me just get my stuff ready," she said and sure enough, around noon, they let her out.

When they were in the car her mom looked back at her, "Do you know what's causing them, the visions. Is it anything like dark places or something?" she asked.

Eli shrugged as she looked out the window, "No idea, they just happened. But I was alone the entire time," she said loudly to make it obvious what they _shouldn't _do.

Will nodded and wrapped an arm around her, "You got it," he said and rubbed her arm, but she didn't feel at all comforted.

"Yeah," she said quietly and looked out at the woods. She couldn't trust herself anymore, couldn't trust her sight, her ears, her mind, what else could go wrong.

When they finally reached the house Eli opened the front door and looked around the house, something felt…wrong. She looked at Will as he walked in, a look came across his face that told her she wasn't the only one that felt it. Something was here that shouldn't be, it was still daytime, it couldn't be the horseman, could it. Her parents walked in and her dad closed the door but they didn't seem to notice anything different.

"Everything alright?" her mom asked with a smile.

Will and Eli looked at each other, "Yeah, everything's fine," she said looking back to her mother. Her smile grew a bit and she walked to the kitchen, her dad following.

Will looked at her when her parents were out of earshot, "You feel that too?" he asked, she nodded and looked around. Finally he grinned a little, "Come on, let's go upstairs, get you some new clothes on." She nodded and walked up the stairs with him, he opened their bedroom door for her and she stepped in, nothing, good.

Eli walked over to her dresser, then stopped, she looked into the mirror, she looked at her features. Her eyes had bags under them, her hair was a mess, she almost looked lifeless in her own eyes, she felt like crying. She walked over to the bed and sat down on it. She looked at the floorboards and clasped her hands together, twiddling her thumbs in thought.

She felt Will plop beside her, "Everything alright?" he asked her, jesus how many times were they gonna ask her.

"I'm fine," she snapped, he jumped back a bit at her ferocity. She realized how she was acting and buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," she said, crying, "No I'm, nothing is alright, I'm losing my mind and there is a headless horseman who wants me dead!" she cried.

He hugged her, "Shhhh, come on, I'm here, it's alright," he said and she let her hands drop as she sniffed but continued to cry.

Eli looked over to the mirror and saw a terrifying sight. There in the mirror was an image of her, standing, her eyes sunken black bits, her skin was pale-ish-grey and her face was gaunt. She screamed and closed her eyes, burying her face in Will's chest.

_Get a hold of yourself you idiot_, her mind told her, _it's all in your head, there's only one way out of it and you know what it is!_ Her head told and she mentally slapped herself, she needed to fight it, needed to put an end to this thing haunting her. She looked at the mirror of the dead her, _Get the Fuck out of my head you __**Bitch!**_She stared at it, it didn't scare her anymore, her eyes squinted and she forced every fiber of her being into hating that image, hating what it stood, what it was standing for.

It opened its mouth and its head fell back as there was an awful screaming, she covered her ears and she saw Will doing likewise, he heard it? The mirror shook and the evil image of her devoured itself and evaporated.

After a minute the room felt…clear, the presence felt gone, the house having returned to how it felt before this nightmare. Will looked around in stupefied wonder as she stood and walked over to the mirror, looking at a plain image of her.

"What the hell was that?" he asked looking around.

Eli looked at him, "Get your things together, we're going to put a stop to this even if it's the last thing I do," she said determined. He looked at her blankly for a moment before he too looked determined and nodded. They were gonna end this, not for themselves, but for everyone else, Halloween was tonight, things are gonna be bad if they don't do something soon.

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><p><strong>AN: Alright I didn't plan on it being this short but I kinda wanted it to be a cliff-hanger. So no raging in the reviews, but do tell me if this is alright, I have been so out of it that I've been having some trouble with typing. Everyone else says I'm doing fine but I don't know. So yeah, here's the next update FINALLY! and please leave a review, do forgive me for it's size and I am sorry for the wait, hope the people who were interested before still are and with that, toodles. :3<strong>


	7. A note

A note:

Hello everyone following all my stories, old and new. I want to apologize as this won't be an actual update to any of my stories but news of a great tragedy, to myself at least. My computer had contracted a virus, how, where, or when I don't know, and it was a pretty bad one. Needless to say I had to bring my laptop in because the thing wouldn't even turn on anymore. When I did that, a few minutes later the guy calls me and tells me that he had to completely reconstruct my hard drive and wanted to let me know I would probably lose some stuff. Needless to say, I lost everything but a couple of my documents, a good majority of them being lost.

So to tell you all, I was actually planning on updating all my stories all at once when this happened. I know a lot of people have been waiting for updates for a very long time and I apologize, but at this point I don't even know what to do but start anew. For everyone wondering, the only salvaged documents were for a story I hadn't posted yet, all of _The Abyssal_ documents, some of the _Persecution Complex_ documents and honestly not much else. A couple of them had documents with chapters I was almost done with or had edited, but every new thing that had been added or any of said edits were replaced by lengthy amounts of rectangles and errors. It was pretty bad. That and for some reason one of my already posted stories deleted itself and with its document gone, I don't know what to do.

To say I've about lost my spark for those stories is pretty accurate. I know I must sound pathetic right now, but you people also have to understand how much of my life I've put into writing and to have it all just disappear like it never mattered is…it leaves a pretty empty feeling inside. So, uh…I don't know what to say really. It might be a while until I update some of my already written stories but for some reason I've been having an urge to write a new/couple new stories after reading quite a few truly good ones on fanfiction.

I guess this might be the end for some stories, I apologize, but right now a new story, The Abyssal, and maybe Persecution Complex are on my mind at the moment. I'm sorry everyone, I really am, but I just don't know what to do.

With that, I hope you guys have enjoyed my stories for what they have been. Thank you, all of you who have supported me and my stories and wish you all a great day/night. See ya guys, it's been fun.

~Reaper81609


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